This feels long over-due: HBO announces an after-show for season 6 of Game of Thrones, titled After the Thrones, which will feature critic and commentator Andy Greenwald (formerly of Grantland) and Chris Ryan of Grantland-succesor, The Ringer. See the press release below:
HBO AND BILL SIMMONS TEAM UP FOR AFTER THE THRONES,
WEEKLY SHOW EXPLORING HIT HBO SERIES “GAME OF THRONES,”
DEBUTING THIS MONTH
AFTER THE THRONES, a weekly show that takes a lively, humorous and sophisticated look at the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones,” will debut this month. The first show to spring from HBO’s new partnership with Bill Simmons, AFTER THE THRONES will be hosted by Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan from The Ringer, Simmons’ new content site.
Beginning with the season premiere of “Game of Thrones” on April 24, each weekly edition of AFTER THE THRONES will be available on Mondays on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand, as well as other affiliate portals. Playdates on the main HBO channel will be announced as they are confirmed.
Each week, AFTER THE THRONES will recap the latest episode, explaining the who, what, when and where, exploring the complicated politics and history of “Thrones,” and offering absurd and not-so-absurd theories about future episodes. Greenwald and Ryan will discuss the show as only they can.
Greenwald and Ryan previously hosted Grantland’s hit Watch the Thrones podcast, and currently host The Watch on Channel 33’s podcast feed for The Ringer. Greenwald has established himself as one of America’s premier television critics, and is currently working on the book “How To Watch TV” (Ecco Press). Ryan is the executive editor of The Ringer. The Watch was hailed as one of the best pop-culture podcasts on the Internet by Vulture and Entertainment Weekly.
The executive producers of AFTER THE THRONES are Bill Simmons and BSMG President Eric Weinberger, with Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald serving as co-executive producers.
As I said, it feels long overdue, given the success of Talking Dead, AMC’s after-show for The Walking Dead, and of Thronecast on Sky. That said, the Twitter conversation of fellow TV critics James Poniewozik of the NY Times, Myles McNutt of the A.V. Club, and Scott Tobias of NPR, raises some thoughtful points. We’d assume that “affiliate portals” include HBO Nordic, HBO Netherlands, and the other streaming services HBO has established around the world. But will this also be available on Sky Atlantic’s streaming service, given the existence of Thronecast? Who knows.